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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 14, 2025

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm

Published on: April 28, 2016

The Development of Rational Imitation in 9- and 12-Month-Old Infants.

Norbert Zmyj¹, Moritz M Daum¹, Gisa Aschersleben²

¹Department of Psychology Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences.

Infancy : the Official Journal of the International Society on Infant Studies

|July 23, 2020

Summary

Twelve-month-old infants demonstrate rational imitation by understanding situational constraints. Nine-month-olds do not show this ability, indicating a developmental onset for rational imitation.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Development
Infant Psychology
Behavioral Science

Background:

Rational imitation, observed in 12-month-olds, involves understanding the reasons behind actions.
The precise developmental emergence of rational imitation and sensitivity to constraints remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if 9- and 12-month-old infants differentiate between voluntary/implicit and nonvoluntary/explicit constraints during imitation.
To determine the developmental onset of rational imitation in response to situational limitations.

Main Methods:

Infants viewed videos of a model performing a head-touch action to illuminate a lamp.
Model's hand constraints varied: free, voluntarily occupied (holding blanket), or nonvoluntarily restrained (tied).
A control group observed hand-based illumination.

Main Results:

12-month-olds imitated the head-touch when hands were free and when nonvoluntarily restrained, but not when voluntarily occupied.
Nine-month-olds did not differentiate imitation based on hand constraint conditions.
Imitation occurred when constraints were nonvoluntary and explicit, not when voluntary or implicit.

Conclusions:

Rational imitation emerges by 12 months of age, not earlier.
Infants' rational imitation is modulated by their perception of the constraint's nature (voluntary vs. nonvoluntary).
12-month-olds understand explicit, nonvoluntary constraints, marking a key developmental milestone in cognitive flexibility.